POWERWOLF (Eng.)
– Hello, thanks for taking the time. What are you guys currently up to just before releasing your new album?
Hey this is Charles, It’s as always. We’re doing promostuff, rehearsals and playing shows…
– To start, could you please make some history of the band?
We started up in 2004, doing 4 records (Return in bloodred 2005, Lupus dei 2007, Bible of the beast 2009, Blood of the saints 2011). We did constantly touring Europe (with Gamma Ray, Candlemass, Sabaton, headlining tours) and a lot of festivals (BYH, Wacken, Bloodstock UK, Summerbreeze….)
– And how did you come up with your aesthetic and the band’s name? Are they both connected to your lyrics? As some people who hasn’t heard your sound could figure out you’re playing a different music style.
The name was an Idea we got together. Attila wanted to have the “wolf” in the name because he is fascinated by the wolf… Mat and me were not that pleased because of our name (Greywolf), we expected that the people would think it is because of our name… And the power is because we wanted to express in our name, that this band is a real powerful thing… So Powerwolf was born…
– «Blood of the Saints» will come out later this month; what are your expectations with it?
So, it’s already out and the success so far is over our expectations… We entered the charts in germany and Swiss, and the critics are almost really good… But the most important thing is, that our fans love “Blood of the saints”… The new Sogs also fit really good to our live show… I can’t imagine to play a show without playing “We drink your blood” or “Sanctified with dynamite”.
– And what does «Blood of the Saints» mean as a concept? It seems to represent lyrics in this album; could you please explain
what are the main lyrical ideas this time?
There is no main idea… It’s not a concept album at all. You should ask Attila or even Matthew about what they wanna say, because the write the lyrics… I’m not that into the lyrics, to say what it is all about..
– The cover artwork has been done by Matthew, how positive is this for POWERWOLF? As I guess, being a band’s members, he
may know what your guys exactly wanted…
Yeah, Matthew is the most talented artwork artist i know. He is responsible for all the visual aspects of the Wolf. He is doing all that creative stuff like Artworks, Shirts, Posters, Stage Set Up and so on. He exactly knows what the wolf needs and so it’s the best decision that he is doing the artwork. He also did most of the old artworks and I still love them all…
– The album was recorded at 5 different studios. Why did you do so?
There was no other way to do it. We did Drums and Guitars at the Kohlekeller Studio because we know we get the best sound the wolf need for these two, we did the Bass at my Studio because of the same reason and Attila was doing the vocals next to his home in a little studio because it’s most comfortable for him. The Gangshouts we did at another studio that had a good big room to do that. Then we recorded the church choirs in an really amazing old church in Saarbrücken. We did because a choir sounds best in a church and we wanted to have that sacral sounding on the record. We also recorded the church organ there…
– It was also recorded at 1 church. Could you please shed some light on this?
As I said: the choir was recorded at the “Deutschherrenkapelle”. An old Chappel finished in 1248. It was really amazing to record parts for the album there. As the choir was sing our songs we had more than one time shiver down our spine. It was so magic and I think it gives a lot of spirit to the album…
– This album seems to be specially rich in different elements and composition so, how was the songwriting like for this CD?
We write the songs with the whole band. We met at the rehearsal room and than we start writing… Some songs took long time to finish, other songs are writing itself. We write the songs for ourselves and we don’t think about what other people will think about it…
– As always, you are mixing Power Metal, with some Heavy Metal and Epic details. So, what bands have influenced your sound?
Of course Iron Maiden. I think almost everyone in the band start listen to Metal with Maiden. Mercyful Fate are also important, Black Sabbath, Running Wild…. There are so much good bands we love and al of them have an influence to us…
– I think structures this time are quite Heavy; they are catchy, many guitar solos, simple but effective structures. How easy is to mix this with the overall dark atmosphere you have always had and the orchestral parts?
It’s not that hard because it happens by itself. The songs have from birth on that dark atmosphere. You can’t trim a happy song in a dark atmosphere.
– And how important is this balance in your music?
As I said. This balance happens, we don’t create it…
– Most of you are hailing from different countries; how do you manage to rehearse and work in general?
We do heavy rehearsal before touring or studio. We met and start playing… It’s quite simple…
– You have confirmed some festival summers, how many tracks will you play off «Blood of the Saints»?
It depends on our playtime. As longer the playtime is as much more new songs we play.
– You will also be part of the Power Metal tour together with SABATON, GRAVE DIGGER and SKULLFIST next September. Are all dates confirmed or can be added some more?
The tour is already over and it was a blast. Great audiences and a lot of fun with all bands… An really awesome tour…
– And beside some gigs and touring, what are the band’s future plans?
Playing more gigs an tours… That’s why we are doing this band. We love standing on stage and playing music…
– That’s all, thanks once again for your time. If you want to add some final words to this interview; last lines are yours.
METAL IS RELIGION!
